INTRO (lectures 1-4)

Question 1

what is the definition of evidence based dentistry?

Answer 1

an approach to oral healthcare that requires the judicious integration of:
- systematic assessments of clinically relevant scientific evidence, relating to the patients oral and medical condition and history
- dentists clinical expertise
- the patients treatment needs and preferences

Question 2

what are clinical decisions based on in EBD?

Answer 2

evidence

Question 3

what’re the 5 As in terms of EBD?

Answer 3

ASK
ALIGN/ACQUIRE
APPRAISE
APPLY

Question 4

what sources should you not believe in EBD?

Answer 4

‘complete potty’
- no credible source
eg. celebrity endorsements

Question 5

what is the stage between a study you shouldn’t believe and a study you should believe?

Answer 5

study with some scientific evidence
- evidence is inappropriate
eg. animal/lab studies (not humans)
poorly designed/ conducted

Question 6

what can be wrong with a study when the scientific evidence is credible?

Answer 6

• it can be peer reviewed
  however the results can be misinterpreted or over interpreted

Question 7

what else can be wrong with a source?

Answer 7

• some of the evidence can be concealed or hidden to portray a certain idea

Question 8

what is evidence?

Answer 8

available body of facts or information to show whether a belief or statement is true or valid

Question 9

what questions should you ask to validate evidence?

Answer 9

• where would you go to find evidence?
• what have you got to back it up?
• how reliable is it?
• if someone else tried to find this out would they get the same answer?

Question 10

why is it important professionally to pay attention to EBD?

Answer 10

part of out professional role and requirement of GDC

Question 11

how do we make sense of science stories?

Answer 11

information overload
- filter out the ones to take seriously
= which ones are scare stories?
= conflicting stories?

Question 12

what should we use to make sense of science stories in EBD?

Answer 12

use our clinical guidelines (NICE, SIGN, SDCEP)
- Cochrane collaboration
- Peer review

Question 13

what do peer reviewer do?

Answer 13

-comment on validity of the study
- judge importance
- judge originality
- decide if the paper should be published, improved or rejected

Question 14

who are peer reviewers?

Answer 14

other scientists working in the same area who have expertise on the topic

Question 15

what is peer review?

Answer 15

to some extent the research has passed the scrutiny of other scientists and is considered valid, important and original

Question 16

how do we fund scientific work?

Answer 16

they have to apply for a grant from charities which is assessed by peer reviewers

Question 17

what are the issues with peer review?

Answer 17

• corruption (asking friends to peer review)
• can’t prevent fraud, plagiarism, duplication
• quality of review process
• skills or reviewer
• time consuming

Question 18

what is the framework used to ask a question properly in EBD?

Answer 18

POPULATION = how would I describe a group of patients similar to this one?
INTERVENTION = what is being ‘done’ to the patients, could be an exposure
COMPARISON = what are we comparing to?
OUTCOME = what are we measuring? desired or undesired

Question 19

what should authors use to make papers relevant?

Answer 19

PICO
- population (who)
- intervention (proposed treatment)
- comparison (placebo)
- outcomes (is it having an effect)